Headlines
Congress condemns remarks by Goa minister's wife
Panaji, April 6
The Congress came down heavily
on Monday over comments made by the wife of a cabinet minister in Goa,
who has claimed that the Western culture causes rape and implored Hindus
not to send their children to convents.
The comments were made
by Lata Dhavalikar, wife of Minister for Factories and Boilers Deepak
Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which is a part of the
alliance government headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On Sunday, Lata Dhavalikar spoke at a religious meeting in Margao, 35 km from Panaji.
"This
is a clear attempt to divide the state and country on religious lines.
Linking rape to the Western culture and exhorting parents against
sending their wards to convent schools reveals a sick mentality,"
Congress spokesperson Durgadas Kamat said in a statement issued here.
On
Monday, media reports quoted Dhavalikar, a member of the right wing
Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha, as saying: "Incidents of rape are on
rise, largely owing to the fact that women have adopted the western
culture."
"It's time we took pride in our rich ancient Indian
culture. Now, it has become trendy among Indian women not to wear the
kumkum on their forehead, wearing tight and revealing clothes, trimming
hair and making weird hairdo...," she said.
The minister's wife,
implored the audience at the function organised by the Hindu Janajagruti
Samiti, to say 'Namaskar' instead of 'Hello' while answering a
telephone call and asked men to sport tilaks and women to wear bindis
when they step out of their homes.
Kamat said: "We are deeply
pained at this remark made in Goa, where Christians account for more
than 26 percent of the state's population. The BJP and Modi have failed
to check communal outbursts by its own leaders, which now appears to
have inspired others to imitate them."